


something like pity

by dadcastellanos



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: M/M, Minor Character Death, Non-Graphic Violence, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-06-02 03:59:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6549832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dadcastellanos/pseuds/dadcastellanos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>General Hux delivered Kylo Ren to Snoke, as ordered. Unfortunately, the rest did not go according to plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	something like pity

“You have disappointed me, Kylo Ren.”

When the Supreme Leader had told him to bring Ren to finish his training, Hux had kind of assumed that he wouldn’t be a part of it. But here he was, standing witness to Snoke’s brutal reaming of his supposed favorite apprentice and wishing he would just be allowed to go back to the bloody Finalizer and move on with his life. It was oddly warm in this hideous cave, as if Snoke wanted the aesthetic of being underground but couldn’t stand the cold. Maybe he was a lizard, Hux wondered as he stared forward. Maybe that’s the reason behind his hideous features- his race is actually part-lizard, from some planet no one had ever heard of before. Maybe the planet had been destroyed, and Snoke was the last of their kind.

“You failed in your mission. The scavenger escaped.”

Then again, if he were part lizard, he’d probably have scales.

“A further insult: it is clear now to me that tasking you with the death of Han Solo was a mistake.”

But that nasty scar in the middle of his face- that could have been where his scales used to be. Or maybe he’s the kind of lizard that doesn’t have scales, per se, but scaly skin, and that really is just a gnarly scar.

“Instead of taking on the power of such an accomplishment, you allowed yourself to become weakened.”

Or maybe they’ve just been flaking off with age, considering Snoke is older than this fucking planet. Maybe even older than most of the universe. Hux amuses himself with the idea of Snoke wandering around the galaxy, twiddling his thumbs and waiting for something to happen.

“You have allowed yourself to lose your power. You have destroyed your _usefulness_ to me in your failure.”

“Supreme Leader-“ Ren starts, unwisely. Something in Hux stirs at the sound of Ren’s pathetic mewling. He names it pity, not moving from where he stands, forcing himself not to look over at the unmasked man beside him. Ren sounds like a child trying to catch his father’s attention; he sounds like someone used to shamelessly begging for scraps. That _is_ pitiful, Hux tries to tell himself, but his heart isn’t in it.

Snoke stands, silencing Ren with a vicious “ _Enough!_ ” that echoes through the chamber. The command Snoke has of the air and space around him is impressive, for someone who is only three foot four. Hux wonders how he manages. “Do not _speak_ unless you have something to say that is worth my time! I do not want your pathetic _groveling_ , Kylo Ren, I want _results!_ ”

Ren’s silence is deeper than just the lack of his voice. It’s as if his very bones have been stilled, the air in his chest has frozen. For the first time in recent memory, Hux can feel Ren’s fear. The so-called pity in Hux’s chest swells slightly, and he ignores it, face hardening as he stares forward.

“You have destroyed the General’s weapon, and our greatest asset. You have failed to bring me the map that leads to Skywalker. You have failed to bring me the scavenger you insisted was more powerful than you, _you,_ Master of _my Knights_.” Hux feels that wound land itself in the center of Ren’s chest. It’s clear he cares deeply about his title and his team, and that’s something Hux can appreciate as a leader himself, even if Hux feels Ren never properly earned his title. Ren almost seems to flinch from the words and the implication that he doesn’t belong with the Knights, even as it’s clear he’s trying not to move. Hux can taste his desire to run, and is absolutely certain Snoke can too. “And, as your finishing touch, you allowed such _useless_ emotions as _grief_ to sap your power from you! Have you anything to say for yourself, _Kylo Ren._ ” Snoke spits his name out like a curse. “Is there anything you can say that is not _weak_ , that is not _groveling_ , that is not _a waste of my time?!_ ”

“No,” Ren replies. His voice shakes like he’s trying not to cry, like he’s desperately trying to keep himself together. Hux realizes his purpose, why Snoke has kept him here instead of dismissing him: to make this worse. The sheer humiliation caused simply by existing near Ren while Snoke tears him down is enough to cut those wounds all the deeper. “No, Supreme Leader.”

“No, I thought not,” Snoke sneers, “but at least it seems you have learned to accept the realities of your failures, for once.” He steps forward, not coming down from the raised mound his literal throne is sitting on but standing instead on the edge of it. Hux assumes this is to appear taller, more menacing. It works, to an extent. It inspires nothing in Hux, but Ren seems to shrink slightly beside him. “We are going to finish your training tonight, Kylo Ren. And your first lesson is what it feels like to _truly_ have disappointed me.”

Hux has seen the silent use of the Force before; it’s entirely different from uses as obvious as moving objects, and feels less like the movement of an invisible physical force and more like… emotion, made real and given life. When it’s used to do things one couldn’t immediately see, things that shouldn’t be possible, it hangs in the air with the same gut-pulling feeling that things such as intuition or anxiety could inspire. Hux had watched Ren break into prisoners’ minds without much ado, felt the air pulsing with power as the victim writhed and screamed, Ren muttering their worst fears in their ear. But then, he’d always had to lift his hand to focus his power, and usually he spoke to his victims, trying to focus their thoughts on his questions. It was disturbing, Hux felt, because it didn’t make sense that someone was capable of doing that- but furthermore, if he were honest, the idea of having Ren rifle through his memories like one might boredly flip through the screens on a holozine disturbed him, especially if it were used to torture him.

Witnessing this, however, was somehow infinitely worse. Snoke wasn’t moving or speaking at all, and Ren wasn’t screaming, his body merely tensed in place and visibly shaking, but Hux could still feel that power, feel the air moving around them. Ren’s voice is stuttering in his throat, as if he’s trying to scream but isn’t allowed to. Hux feels the sudden, horrifying realization that Snoke isn’t letting him, that Snoke has seized Ren’s body and is literally keeping him from screaming to relieve some of the pain.

His next realization is that he _loathes_ this.

He’s seen a lot of torture. He’s been a torturer, in the most desperate of times. Why does this bother him? Why does this fill his chest like smoke, choking him, making him feel… disgusted? He listens to Ren’s desperate noises for a minute that stretches on for years before breaking his dedication to stare only forward and looks up at Snoke. All of Snoke’s attention is absorbed by Ren, and he almost seems to be _smiling._ He’s enjoying it. He’s enjoying watching Ren suffer.

Hux glances at Ren, who is still frozen in place, save for his slight shaking. His eyes are open but rolling up, his nose has started to sluggishly bleed. He almost looks like he’s having a seizure. Snoke is killing him, and Hux realizes suddenly he’s here to bear witness like it’s going to teach him a lesson, or he’s meant to sing Snoke’s praises after the fact. Hux tries to imagine what that would sound like: _yes, Supreme Leader, I agree- he had to die. Yes, Supreme Leader, what a pathetic joke he’d been. Yes, Supreme Leader, your will and strength are great._

No, Hux decides, but _decides_ makes it sound so formal, as opposed to being simple fact. It doesn’t form a thought in his head; it isn’t something he explicitly _chooses_. There is simply no other choice than his refusal, no other consideration than this needs to stop.

Before he can truly think about this, before he can coax himself out of it or truly consider what a disaster this is going to be, Hux moves. He grabs the saber off of Ren in one smooth motion, like it’s meant to be in his hand. He stalks up to Snoke, who is too engrossed in Ren’s complete destruction to notice him moving, as if he’s meant to be standing before the Supreme Leader now. He doesn’t know how to use a lightsaber, really, but he’s seen it a thousand times before: Hux presses the button at the same time he lifts his hands over his head, and brings the saber down on Snoke in one smooth motion.

Snoke notices too late, and swings the power focused on Ren up towards Hux to try and stop him. The lightsaber seems to bounce off an invisible wall and Hux is thrown back, down the stairs and into a roll. On the way down the lightsaber nearly cuts his head off, but he manages to control it enough to avoid injury and rights himself as quickly as he can. Behind him, Ren falls like a puppet cut from its strings, hitting the ground. Hux assumes he’s passed out from the pain and glances up at Snoke, who is livid and standing above him on the stairs. There’s a cut at the top of his face, still smoking from where Hux had managed to nick him with the saber. Hux smiles mirthlessly.

“ _General_ ,” Snoke hisses. “What do you think you are doing?”

“You know, Supreme Leader, I’m not entirely sure.” The saber is pulled from his hands, the invisible hands of the Force wrenching it from him, but Hux can feel Snoke’s rage and confusion in the unsteady motion. It’s clear he’s shaken, and something wild in Hux whispers _I have a chance_. As the saber leaves his hand, Hux reaches into his coat and pulls out his personal blaster, a tiny silver thing he’d had for years. Without hesitation he shoots at Snoke, four times in quick succession, fully aware the blasts would likely never reach their target. Snoke moves at the same time, thrusting his hand out to catch the saber and send back the shots, but instead of a smooth catch and Hux’s death, Snoke jerks unnaturally and gasps.

He manages to catch the saber in his hand, and his body catches the shots.

The cavern echoes with a dull thud when Snoke’s body hits the floor. Hux glances over his shoulder, where Ren is still crumpled on the floor- but his hand is held out, his eyes glassy but open, and Hux realizes Ren had frozen Snoke in place. He’d weathered that much pain and somehow not only stayed alive and awake, but mustered the strength and will to save Hux’s life.

Maybe he’d noticed through the torture that Hux had grabbed his saber, and realized where Hux was going with it. Maybe he was exactly as powerful as he’d always said he was.

Hux stands, carefully walking down to Ren, who’s fallen back to the floor and isn’t moving. His nose is still bleeding, and his eyes are far away, as if he isn’t quite aware of his surroundings. Kneeling beside him, Hux gathers Ren carefully into his arms.

“Come on then,” Hux murmurs softly, brushing Ren’s sweat-heavy hair off his forehead. “Don’t you die on me, Kylo Ren. I am _not_ going to drag your corpse out of this hole.”

“You,” wheezes Ren, and Hux tries to shush him but is ignored. “You idiot.”

“ _I’m_ the idiot.”

“You could… have died,” Ren manages to splutter, and Hux shushes him again, carding fingers through his hair.

“You know, for all the eternally frustrating things you do, you and I do work well together.” He pulls Ren further up onto his body, cradling him as best he could. Ren’s body feels almost boneless, and he doesn’t put up even the smallest amount of resistance to Hux’s pushing and pulling him around. “What Snoke didn’t realize is that you and I are a good team. When we’re harmonious, we fill each other’s gaps.” Hux goes quiet for a moment, mulling this over. “I don’t think he meant us to be. Not to this extent.”

“No,” Ren agrees. “He… he didn’t..”

“Well. I suppose that was his failure.” Hux listens to Ren’s chest; his heart is still beating, and though it seems faint, Hux doesn’t feel he needs to worry. Ren is terribly powerful, after all. Isn’t he? “I don’t know if I can carry you out of here, Ren.”

“Leave me.”

“After I went through the trouble of saving you?” Hux scoffs. “Absolutely not. We die here together or we leave here together. There is no other option, and I for one am not dying here.” Ren doesn’t waste his energy replying, and instead opens his eyes to fix Hux with what Hux assumes is meant to be an annoyed stare. Hux raises an eyebrow. “I’m serious.”

“I know,” Ren wheezes.

They stay there, crumpled on the floor of the cave Supreme Leader Snoke used to sit in to issue them orders, until Ren recovers himself somewhat. Hux can only stand the awkward silence for the first five minutes, and begins to babble to Ren about the paperwork that needs done when he gets back. After about twenty, Ren’s finally able to stand as long as he leans on Hux heavily, and so Hux has to pull away to grab the lightsaber off of Snoke’s dead body before they can leave. Walking is slow going, especially with Ren’s heavy body refusing to cooperate properly and stumbling every few steps, but Hux manages to help him out into the light again.

The mouth of the cave leads out into a stone citadel in the middle of a hideous plains planet that seems to constantly be cloudy but never rains. Hux glances around as the wind begins to pick up, and for a moment is grateful for the clouds keeping the dreary sun’s light from being too harsh. Down in the courtyard, their protective detail is milling about, waiting for Hux to reappear and be escorted to the shuttle, but beyond Hux, Ren and the people they brought with them, the entire planet seems to be deserted.

Hux wonders if Snoke killed them all when he moved here. He decides he doesn’t care; the man’s dead and if Hux has his way he’ll never see this horrible fucking planet again.

The troopers take Ren from Hux when they approach, two of them carefully propping him up. “Sir!” one of them greets Hux, nodding respectfully. “I hope your meeting was pleasant.”

“It was, at least, eventful,” Hux replies, nodding in response. “Please be careful with him. Let’s return to the Finalizer, shall we?”

**Author's Note:**

> originally this was going to be a fill for a challenge! & then it was kind of a little too violent & dark for what they'd asked for, so you guys get it instead. the next chapter will be sex, so it's rated for that ahead of time so that no one gets blindsided.
> 
> you can find me on tumblr @ dadcastellanos!!


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